Bruno is walking around through his house when he sees a little boy around his age on the other side of the fence with crossed legs, and a pajama looking suit with a star of David patch on it. He goes to investigate and figures out that the boy’s name is Shmuel and that they share a birthday. The boy mentions them being in Poland which confuses Bruno who doesn’t actually know where Poland is and doesn’t remember being in Poland. Flashback to a few months before when Bruno’s father tells the family that the Fury and his girlfriend would be coming over to their house for dinner. The family panics but eventually they’re ready for their supreme guest. The guest arrived with his beautiful girlfriend and they chat with the children a bit and then the adults dine alone. Bruno overhears some of the chattings and hears his father talk about how their family would be moving to Auschwitz making his mother very upset. Back in the present, Shmuel explains that he used to live with his parents and brother in an apartment above a watch store and that he had a beautiful watch from his dad but the soldiers took it from him. One day they were forced to move to a different part of Cracow, and then the soldiers packed them into trains headed for Auschwitz. His mother was taken away. Mum’s the word? Bruno decides against telling his family about Shmuel, which seems like pretty sound thinking. These days, life’s good for Bruno thanks to his daily talks with Shmuel. Yay for having a friend. One day, Maria comes into the kitchen and Bruno asks her if it’s true that Pavel is a doctor. She says he used to be, and that she’ll tell Bruno about Pavel’s life—but whatever information she shares with him, is never shared with us. That evening at dinner, Pavel serves the family and Kotler. Bruno says he doesn’t like history, and Kotler says he liked it when he was a boy, even though his father was a literature professor. Kotler doesn’t know what his father’s doing now, though, because he left Germany in 1938. Bruno’s father asks whether Kotler’s informed his superiors of his father’s actions, and Kotler gets anxious and agitated. Pavel comes over to refill their glasses and accidentally spills wine on Kotler’s lap. Kotler does something nasty to Pavel—and while we don’t know what exactly, we do know that it makes Bruno cry.